Steve had a baseball game, but I wasn't feeling well so I stayed home and took a nap. I woke up and felt much better so I decided to walk up to the park. Usually I take Captain, but decided to take Dewey this time. As I was about to walk out the door, I looked at the clock and realized the game was almost over so I thought I'd just walk up there and go up to the bar with the team after the game. I put Dewey back in the cage with Captain and Jade and started to walk out the door. I heard a loud scream and when I turned around I saw and heard Dewey fall on to the newspaper at the bottom of the cage. He half stood up and dragged himself to the door as I was opening it. He wasn't moving his leg. I'm afraid I may have closed his little leg in the space between the door and the top of the cage, but I'm really not sure. It's possible that either Captain or Jade bit it or one of them scared him into falling and it broke when he fell. At first he just wasn't moving it, then about 15 min later it started bleeding. Steve was at baseball and I had to wait about 10 more minutes for him to get home so we could go tot he ER. On the way to the ER vet it started bleeding a lot. I was so scared, it was about a 20-30 min ride but felt like an hour. It looked like he was trying to fall asleep. I just knew he was going to die and I guess I was actually starting to say goodbye to him. I told Steve "he's not going to make it, there's too much blood." My hands were covered and it was on my purse, pants and shirt as well. In less than a minute a seemingly normal day turned in to the worst expierence I've ever had. I've never prayed so hard and out loud in my life. I usually pray silently or in a whisper, but this time I was nearly yelling and begging. I can't remember the last time I cried that hard either. I probably scared the crap out of Steve, he's never seen me like that. I was more desperate for a miracle than I'd ever been in my life. God answered.
We were at the vet until about 11pm. They let us know that eventhough he was stable at the time there is a chance that he might still die. Steve wanted to take Dewey home because he felt bad leaving him. The vet and I convinced him that he needed to stay. They would then call us after they got his x-rays further evaulated his condition. We would pick him up at 0800 the next morning to take him to an animal hospital. The problem was that Steve had to work the next day and surely I couldn't hold Dewey in that condition and still drive. I didn't know what I was going to do so I called Joe. He was half in the bag but told me he'd work for Steve in the mornig so we could get Dewey taken care of. This is why Joe is my best friend by the way. He's the nicest person I've ever met. The guy will bend over backwards for his friends and he's the only person I know who never says anything bad about anyone. Anyway, we went home and I tried to sleep but everytime I closed my eyes all I could see was his bloodly little leg flopping around when he tried to fly out of my hands in the car. I could even smell the blood all over me. I finally fell asleep and the phone rang. The vet called to update us on Dewey. They confirmed that his leg was broken, but said he was waking up from the anestesia and doing as well as could be expected. Then, I was able to sleep. We picked him up in the morning and this is what he looked like:
Here is what he looked like with his cast on:
If spending nearly 20 hours a day for 6 weeks doesn't improve the bond between a pet and it's human, I don't know what will. So needless to say, we've become very close. We needed that, he's usually pretty mean to me. Now he actually enjoys being with me again.
(August 18, 2008)
Dewey went in for his weekly bandage change and the vet decided that since it has been 5.5 weeks they could do an x-ray and if all looked good the cast could come off. So, they bring in the anestesia concent forms come in and again I get very nervous. About 15 minutes later the Dr came in with the x-rays and it looks like it healed nicely. When he woke up however, he went straight for his leg so they had to put a bandage on it.
I took the bandage off last night but the little cottony piece under it was stuck a little so I let him take a bath to get it off. OMG! his little leg looks so nasty! It's kind of yellowish and missing all the feathers all the way up to his hip. Where the break was, it is thicker. Think of your arm including your elbow, except the elbow isn't a joint, it just sticks out like that. I hope that is temporary. He did try to get at his leg again, but after I put a Band-aid on it I realized he might just be trying to feel it. (I surely couldn't continue to look at it. I'm way too squemish for that so I had to put cover it.) Next time I will let him mess with it a little unless it looks like he is trying to bite. To my surprise, he hasn't tried to remove the Band-aid. I think I'm gonna get him some kid Band-aids! Anyway, his foot is still swollen and has been since Jade bit it last weekend. The vet didn't say it was out of the ordinary, so I'm not too concerned though I did hold him a good amount of time yesterday so he could lay on his back and elevate it. We went for a long walk in the evening with him laying upside down too. Captain came with us, he was on my other hand. The neighborhood kids (and adults) LOVE Captain. Dewey seems pretty comfortable though. I'd think that if his leg was bothering him he'd pick at it. Right now he is sleeping comfortably on his little perch next to me, at work. Friday will be his last day here. My boss has been very patient in letting me bring him in all this time. I'm really gonna miss having him here.
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